Information processes and technology course specifications PDF

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Higher School Certificate Course Specifications

Information Processes and Technology Stage 6

Original published version updated: November 2007 – Notification to Principals D2007/4588 © 1999 Copyright Board of Studies NSW for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales. This document contains Material prepared by the Board of Studies NSW for and on behalf of the State of New South Wales. The Material is protected by Crown copyright. All rights reserved. No part of the Material may be reproduced in Australia or in any other country by any process, electronic or otherwise, in any material form or transmitted to any other person or stored electronically in any form without the prior written permission of the Board of Studies NSW, except as permitted by the Copyright Act 1968. School students in NSW and teachers in schools in NSW may copy reasonable portions of the Material for the purposes of bona fide research or study. Teachers in schools in NSW may make multiple copies, where appropriate, of sections of the HSC papers for classroom use under the provisions of the school’s Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) licence. When you access the Material you agree:  to use the Material for information purposes only  to reproduce a single copy for personal bona fide study use only and not to reproduce any major extract or the entire Material without the prior permission of the Board of Studies NSW  to acknowledge that the Material is provided by the Board of Studies NSW  not to make any charge for providing the Material or any part of the Material to another person or in any way make commercial use of the Material without the prior written consent of the Board of Studies NSW and payment of the appropriate copyright fee  to include this copyright notice in any copy made  not to modify the Material or any part of the Material without the express prior written permission of the Board of Studies NSW. The Material may contain third-party copyright materials such as photos, diagrams, quotations, cartoons and artworks. These materials are protected by Australian and international copyright laws and may not be reproduced or transmitted in any format without the copyright owner’s specific permission. Unauthorised reproduction, transmission or commercial use of such copyright materials may result in prosecution. The Board of Studies has made all reasonable attempts to locate owners of third-party copyright material and invites anyone from whom permission has not been sought to contact the Copyright Officer, ph (02) 9367 8289, fax (02) 9279 1482.

Published by Board of Studies NSW GPO Box 5300 Sydney NSW 2001 Australia Tel: (02) 9367 8111 Fax: (02) 9367 8484 Internet: www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au ISBN 978 174147 7313 2007653

Contents Foreword...............................................................................................................4 Introduction...........................................................................................................5 Syllabus Content.................................................................................................6 System and Data Modelling Tools.......................................................................11 Data Flow Diagram.....................................................................................11 Context Diagrams.......................................................................................12 Decision Tree.............................................................................................12 Decision Table............................................................................................13 Schemas.....................................................................................................13 Data Dictionary...........................................................................................14 Normalisation.............................................................................................14 SQL Syntax................................................................................................14 Block Diagrams..........................................................................................14 Storyboards................................................................................................15 Project Tools......................................................................................................16 Journals and Diaries...........................................................................................16 Gantt Charts........................................................................................................16 Requirements Report..........................................................................................16 Feasibility Reports..............................................................................................16 System Development Approaches......................................................................17 Application Software Specifications..............................................................18 Database Software.............................................................................................18 Website Creation Software and HTML Editors...................................................18 Web Browser Software.......................................................................................18 Presentation Software.........................................................................................18 Word Processing and Desktop Publishing Software..........................................19 Spreadsheet and Charting Software...................................................................20 Audio Software....................................................................................................20 Software for Video Processing...........................................................................20 Animation Software.............................................................................................21 Authoring Software.............................................................................................21 Email Software....................................................................................................21 Graphics Software (Bitmap and Vector).............................................................22 Geographical Information System......................................................................22 Neutral Networks................................................................................................22 Expert Systems...................................................................................................22 Control Software.................................................................................................23

Information Processes and Technology – HSC Course Specifications

Information Processes and Technology Stage 6 HSC Examination 2009 Foreword The HSC course specifications for Information Processes and Technology contain information about the Higher School Certificate from 2009. This information is relevant to students studying the Preliminary course from 2008. This document is an integral part of the course content and needs to be referred to regularly in conjunction with the syllabus. This HSC Course Specifications document should be read in conjunction with:

  

Information Processes and Technology Stage 6 Syllabus and support documents Official Notices in Board Bulletins examination and assessment reports.

The Board of Studies reserves the right to make changes to the course specifications. As they are reviewed, the amendments will be published electronically on the Board of Studies website and notified in the Official Notices published in the Board Bulletin. Curriculum advice may be obtained on: Phone (02) 9367 8246 Fax (02) 9367 8476 Board of Studies publications (syllabuses, support documents, Board Bulletins, specimen examination papers) may be obtained from Client Services on: Phone (02) 9367 8495 Fax (02) 9262 8178 (fax orders preferred) Correspondence should be addressed to: Board of Studies GPO Box 5300 Sydney NSW 2001

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Information Processes and Technology – HSC Course Specifications

Information Processes and Technology Course Specifications Introduction This document has been produced to present specific content relating to current and emerging technologies as well as providing clarification on the depth of treatment required for some concepts in the Information Processes and Technology Stage 6 Syllabus. Essential and desirable features of software to be used are also identified. The document should be read in conjunction with the Information Processes and Technology Stage 6 Syllabus. In addition to the content and concepts detailed in this document, students should be exposed to further software and concepts that illustrate syllabus content. This document is available on the Board’s website so that it can be regularly updated.

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Information Processes and Technology – HSC Course Specifications

Syllabus Content The section defines content from the syllabus that is likely to change over time (such as current technologies and those that are emerging). It is intended that this content be taught as an integral mandatory part of the course. Specific content in this section will be reviewed and updated as the need arises to maintain currency in the syllabus. Preliminary Course Syllabus page reference

Students learn about: 8.2 Tools for Information Processes collecting  hardware used for collection  scanners and/or digital cameras to collect images  microphones and/or recording from peripheral devices to collect audio  video cameras and/or peripheral devices with appropriate interfaces to capture video  keyboards and/or optical character readers to collect numbers and text  data capture devices such as counters for counting cars on a road  software used for collection  device drivers that allow hardware to interface with the operating system  software that allows participants to enter or import data  software that allows participants to move data between applications

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organising  software for organisation, including:  paint and draw software that allows image manipulation  mixing software for audio manipulation  video processing software that allows arrangement of video and audio clips on a timeline  word processors and desktop publishing for the arrangement of text, images and numbers for display  spreadsheets for the arrangement of numerical data for processing  website creation software that uses hyperlinks to organise data to be displayed in web pages  presentation software allowing data to be arranged on slides, providing control over the sequence in which information is displayed

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Dot points have been reworded.

Dot points have been reworded and new display devices added.

Information Processes and Technology – HSC Course Specifications

Syllabus page reference 21

Students learn about:

storing and retrieving  hardware for storing and retrieving  hardware secondary storage devices, including: Dot points have been o magnetic disks reworded and new o optical disks display devices added. o network storages o flash memory o magnetic tapes displaying 23  hardware for displaying, including:  screens (LCD, CRT and plasma screens) for displaying text, numbers, images and video  printers and plotters for displaying text, numbers and images  speakers for audio output  digital projectors and interactive whiteboards for displaying text, numbers, images and video

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Information Processes and Technology – HSC Course Specifications

HSC Course Syllabus page reference 34

Students learn about: 9.2 Information Systems and Databases issues related to information systems and databases  current and emerging trends in the organisation, processing, storage and retrieval of data, such as:  data warehousing and data mining  Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) and Online Transaction Processing (OLTP) 9.3 Communication Systems

` A number of outdated

examples of communication systems examples have been  messaging systems, including: deleted and newer  email examples added.  voice mail  Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) transmitting and receiving in communication systems 37  transmission media, including:  wired transmission o twisted pair o coaxial cable o optic fibre  wireless transmission o microwave o satellite o radio o infrared  functions performed by the following hardware components used in communication systems:  hubs and switches  routers A number of new  modems communication devices  bridges and gateways have been added.  Network Interface Cards (NIC)  mobile phones  cables  wireless access points  bluetooth devices issues related to communication systems 39  current and emerging trends in communication systems, including:  blogs  wikis  RSS feeds A number of areas for  podcasts studying current and  online radio, TV and video on demand emerging trends have  3G technologies for mobile communications been added.

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Information Processes and Technology – HSC Course Specifications

Students learn about: 9.4.1 Transaction Processing Systems other information processes in transaction processing systems  collecting in transaction processing:  hardware, including: o Automatic Teller Machines (ATM) o barcode readers o Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags issues related to transaction processing systems  current and emerging trends in transaction processing  data warehousing and data mining  Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) and Online Transaction Processing (OLTP) 9.4.2 Decision Support Systems issues related to decision support systems  current and emerging trends of decision support systems  data warehousing and data mining  Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) and Online Transaction Processing (OLTP)  the emerging trend of group decision support systems and the communication it facilitates

Syllabus page reference 42

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47 New areas of study for current and emerging trends have been added.

9.4.3 Automated Manufacturing Systems (AMS) issues related to automated manufacturing systems  current and emerging trends in automated manufacturing systems, including:  the use of AMS for quality control

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9.4.4 Multimedia Systems examples of multimedia systems  advances in technology which are influencing multimedia development, such as:  increased storage capacity allowing multimedia products to be stored at high resolutions  improved bandwidth allowing transmission of higher quality multimedia  improved resolution of capturing devices  increases in processing power of CPUs  improved resolution of displays  new codecs for handling compression of media while improving quality

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These advances in technology have been reworded and updated.

Information Processes and Technology – HSC Course Specifications

Students learn about: displaying in multimedia systems  hardware for creating and displaying multimedia, including:  screens including CRT displays, LCD displays, plasma displays and touch screens  digital projection devices  speakers, sound systems  CD, DVD and video tape players  head-up displays and head-sets  software for creating and displaying multimedia, including:  presentation software  software for video processing  authoring software  animation software  web browsers and HTML editors other information processes in multimedia systems  storing and retrieving  the different file formats used to store different types of data, including: o JPEG, GIF, PNG, and BMP for images o MPG, Quicktime, AVI and WMV for video and animations o MP3, Wav, WMA, and MID for audio o SWF for animations issues related to multimedia systems  current and emerging trends in multimedia systems, such as:  virtual worlds

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Syllabus page reference 54 New display devices have been specified.

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Some common file formats have been specified.

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Information Processes and Technology – HSC Course Specifications

System and Data Modelling Tools Data Flow Diagram Data flow diagrams represent an information system as a number of processes that together form the single system. This single system can be represented more simply using a context diagram (see below). Data flow diagrams therefore show a further level of detail not seen in the context diagram. Data flow diagrams identify the source of data, its flow between processes and its destination along with data generated by the system. The symbols used are:

Circles used to represent processes. Processes are actions taking place to transform inputs to outputs.

Process

This section has been reworded and examples provided to give teachers and students appropriate models for implementing data flow diagrams and context diagrams.

Curved lines represent data flows between processes, data stores and external entities. Data flows should be named to identify the piece of data. Boxes used to represent external entities. These are any item, person or organisation sitting outside the systems that provides data to the system or receives data from the system.

External entity

An open-ended rectangle is used to represent a data store. Data stores include electronic or non computer-based stores of data. They should be named with a logical name.

Data store

The example below shows the processes involved in borrowing a video.

Overdue Info Borrower

Borrower ID

Valid Borrower ID Va lidate Borrower ID

Check Overdues Loan Details

Borrower Details

Video Video ID Loan Transactions

Borrower Details

Loan Transaction Details

Borrower ID Retrieve Video Details

Loan Transaction Details

Perform Loan Transaction

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Video Details

Video Details Video Details

Information Processes and Technology – HSC Course Specifications

Context Diagrams

Context diagrams are used to represent an overview of the entire information systems. The system is shown as a single process along with the inputs and outputs. The external entities are connected to the single process by data flow arrows. Each element represented is labelled. A context diagram does not show data stores and internal processes.

The example below is a context diagram that represents the video borrowing process (shown on the previous page).

Overdue Info Borrower

Loan Transaction Details

Decision Tree

Video ID

Borrower ID

Video

Video Borrowing Process

A decision tree is a diagrammatic way of representing all possible combinations of decisions and their resulting actions. Branches are shown to describe the eventual action depending on the condition at the time. Each decision path will lead to either another decision that needs to be made or a final action. This is shown in the example below. At Christmas, a company pays a gift of money to some of its employees. To be eligible for the gift, an employee must have worked for the company for at least six months. Managers get $500 and other employees get $300 for their first Christmas with the company and $500 thereafter.

Length of employment

Type of employee

greater than 1 year Christmas gift payment

Amount of gift

$500 manager

$500

other

$300

greater than 6 months and less tha...